US, UK hail murder of Russian lieutenant-general in charge of nuclear defense
US, UK hail murder of Russian lieutenant-general in charge of nuclear defense
www.wsws.org
US, UK hail murder of Russian lieutenant-general in charge of nuclear defense
Saying "murder" about a military participant in an ongoing invasion reeks of propaganda, not reliable news coverage.
Was he killed in combat? Was he killed by a member of the armed forces? Was he on active duty?
I think in his case it is not so clear to deem him a combatant and legitimate target by the laws around warfare.
His assassination is kind of similar to the attack on the Pentagon in 09/11. That is the part attacking US army personnel in the building, not the abducting and murdering civilians in a plane part.
He is a high ranking paper pusher at home, rather than an armed or at least deployed fighter. The attack was not carried out by regular armed forces, but by intelligence or intelligence affiliated partisan/terrorist (depending on point of view) groups.
In a similar question one would have to ask, if the assassination of JF Kennedy wasn't a murder then, since Kennedy was the leader of an invading army in Vietnam.
EDIT: before downvoting i suggest people to read the following discussion regarding the legality of this act. This assassination was clearly not in accord with the Geneva convention, specifically the prohibition of the use of civilian items as booby traps and the prohibition of perfidious attacks.
The laws of war are way more permissive than you think. All military officers are lawful targets. Even civilians working for the “war machine” are lawful targets. Munitions manufacturing plants, for example, tend to be full of civilian employees. They are lawful targets because destroying the enemy’s ability to conduct war is a lawful objective of military necessity.